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Fire in bin shed beside my house.

14 replies

Hollyhobbi · 23/08/2020 03:51

Just looking for some advice here. About 5am on Tuesday I woke up to my eldest dd thundering down the stairs and shouting. She was shouting fire. The 3 storey block of apartments next to our house had a wooden bin shed about 18 inches from our garden wall. I say had because it and the two large bins in it were burnt to the ground. Suspected arson. The fire damaged two windows and all the fascia at the back of the house was burnt and fell down. It was so intense the fascia of the three storey apartment block fell down as well. Sparks were flying everywhere. Even a very tall tree a good bit away was scorched. I have a Garda incident report number and because I don't trust the apartment management company I'm using a private insurance assessor. On Thursday after the area was cleaned up two more large bins appeared back in the same place. These are moveable and they aren't locked. I, my neighbour and a public representative have emailed and spoken to the Management company for the apartment block about the seriousness of the incident. If my daughter hadn't been awake at the time I might not be here now. Also we were banging on the apartment windows to try and wake people up. Especially in the apartment nearest our house. They didn't even seem to have a fire extinguisher or fire blanket. Half the buzzers were broken. In fact no one even set off the fire alarm for about 25 mins. Any advice for me?

OP posts:
Hollyhobbi · 23/08/2020 03:52

Sorry that was a long one!

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Hollyhobbi · 23/08/2020 14:38

Anyone?

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Moranne · 23/08/2020 16:02

It's not clear what you need advice on.

Hollyhobbi · 23/08/2020 16:33

How do I tackle the Management Company and their response to what happened?

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AuditAngel · 23/08/2020 16:35

Ask them to provide a copy of their risk assessment for the siting of the bins

PicsInRed · 23/08/2020 16:40

I would check whether there are council regulations re: loose bin siting. You might be surprised.

Hollyhobbi · 23/08/2020 17:29

The public rep has already emailed me the regulations and the bins are supposed to be locked and secure. Which they weren't. I don't think the wooden shed was even treated with a fire retardant! I also found something about the bins having to be 2.5m from a building. I'm wondering if I may have to engage a solicitor. I have an email from the management company saying their insurers told them they had to move the bins from the front of the apartments. Could they have invalidated their insurance?

OP posts:
PicsInRed · 23/08/2020 18:43

@Hollyhobbi

The public rep has already emailed me the regulations and the bins are supposed to be locked and secure. Which they weren't. I don't think the wooden shed was even treated with a fire retardant! I also found something about the bins having to be 2.5m from a building. I'm wondering if I may have to engage a solicitor. I have an email from the management company saying their insurers told them they had to move the bins from the front of the apartments. Could they have invalidated their insurance?
Report it to Council as a fire safety violation. Keep reporting and calling until they send out an inspector.
Hollyhobbi · 23/08/2020 18:44

Thanks for the advice everyone.

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purplecorkheart · 23/08/2020 18:57

Go online to your City or County Council website. They should have the planning permission details online and you can cross reference. You can contact the enforcement section if you think they are not following the terms and conditions laid out.

I would also drop a note to the chief fire officer requesting details of the fire inspections done one the building under foi.

Hollyhobbi · 23/08/2020 19:42

They definitely didn't have planning permission for it. It was a shed like people have in their back gardens.

OP posts:
Hollyhobbi · 23/08/2020 19:44

@purplecorkheart the FOI request is an excellent idea. Thanks.

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safariboot · 23/08/2020 19:45

If your house was damaged then I'd say let your home insurance handle it.

wowfudge · 23/08/2020 19:47

Yes, let your insurers deal with the apartment block's insurers.

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